Week in Review (Oct. 11)

There were some great deals this week. Here is a little recap of what I posted:

Always Infinity products are Limit 2 this week at CVS instead of 1. If you only got 1 make sure to head back before tomorrow to get your second one. If they are out make sure to ask for a rain check!

Walgreens has some great deals here...I made $8!

Fleishman's yeast is a MONEY MAKER at Dillons this week!

McDonald's has a $12 valued treat book for only $2!

And be sure to see the awesome grocery deals here, here and here!

This week's grocery trip (Oct. 10)

I went to 2 stores this morning and will head to Hy-Vee on Sunday when I am on that side of town. It was good morning at Dillons!

Dillons:
Note: MS stands for manager special

• 1 gallon of Dillons milk on MS for 2.50 (regular price is 2.99)
• 1 pint of Half and Half on MS for .60 (regular price is .99)
• 1 pint of butter milk on MS for .58 (regular price is .99)
• 1 package of cherry tomatoes on the vine on MS for .99 (regular price is 2.99 or more)
• 1 lb. of Driscoll's strawberries on MS for .99 (regular price is 2.99 or more)
• 1 3 lb. bag of Apples on MS for .99 (regular price is 3.99 or more)-.75/1 Dillons coupon for apples=.24 for the bag!
  
• 3 2lb. bags of Tyson individual frozen chicken breasts on MS for 2.79=8.37 for 6 lbs. of chicken breasts! (regular price for one bag is 5.99 ore more)
• 2 1lb. packages of Kroger butter at 1.98/1=3.96-.45/1 coupon and a 1/1 coupon=2.51 for both!
  
• 2 1 lb. packages of Kroger cream cheese at .99/1=1.98
• 1 Febreeze Noticeables=8.29- 5/1 P&G E-Saver coupon (downloaded onto Dillons card) and -5/1 MF coupon=FREE +1.71 overage!
• 1 package of Cottonelle=.99- .50/1 MF coupon doubled= FREE!
• 1 3 ct package of yeast=1.69- .45/1 MF coupon doubled=.69 and I got back a .50 off your next order catalina that doubles to $1. This was FREE +.31 in overage!
• 1 bottle of Kroger ranch dressing=1.00
• 1 bar of colby/jack cheese=1.77
• 1 bottle of lime juice=1.19

Total including tax and minus coupons=23.07. My recipet says I saved 55%!

Aldi:
1 Pineapple marked down to .99
1 dozen large eggs=.88
2 lbs. of green grapes=2.68
1 head of lettuce=.79
1 stalk of celery=1.19
1 stuffig mix=.79

Total=7.93

Hy-Vee: I plan to purchase:
1 16 oz. package of cheese=2.77
1 bag of powdered sugar=.99
1 16 oz. tub of sour cream=.77
2 8 oz. cans of pinapple .88

Total=5.41

Overall total will be 36.41 for the week! Make sure to check Monday to see what my menu plan for the week is!

Thrifty Thursday: How much should you spend?

For Thrifty Thursday I thought I would answer a question I get a lot.

"How much money should I spend on groceries?"

A while back my husband and I got involved with Crown Financial Ministries. Through this ministry we discovered they have a GREAT percentage guideline on how much of your income should go where in your budget (aka: spending plan). You can plug in your yearly income, tithe (if you do this) and your taxes and it gives you a percentage breakdown! This has been so helpful for us as we seek to be as wise as we can with our financial resources.

This break down is not perfect and is not the answer to all your money questions. It does, however, give a good guideline.

While I do think having a spending plan is wise, this is just a simple suggestion to help you see if you are over spending on groceries or not. If you are then you know some cuts need to be made and what place to start than with coupons and wise shopping habits!

Happy Thursday!

FYI on Gas Prices

Have you been noticing prices lately? I have noticed as much as a .40 cent difference around the SW side of Topeka! Here is what I know as of last night and early this morning:

29th and Urish: 3.09/gal.
29th and Wanamaker: 2.99/gal.
Huntoon and Gage: 2.85/gal.

And the BEST One: 6th and Lane at 2.69/gal.!!!!

Dillons: FYI on Glade and Yeast

It has been confirmed that the .50 off you next purchase catalina you receive from buying yeast in fact does double to $1. This gives you an overage of .21-.31 depending on which MF coupon you have!

Many of you may have seen this post yesterday on MSM about Glade scented oil holders. She says that these are priced from 3.99-5.99 at many stores. Our Dillons has these priced at 8.69 so these will NOT be a moneymaker for us here in Topeka. Does anybody know of any other Topeka stores that might be participating?

The Caregiver's MarketPlace

Have you discovered this awesome program yet?! This is a FREE program that allows you to get money back on items that you might normally buy. You can check out this program here! The reason I bring this up is for all you mommies of kids under 5. Did you know you can get a $1 back for every jumbo pack of Huggies or Pull-ups you buy!?

If you don't have kids under 5 this is still worth checking out as you may find that you purchase other participating products!

Hy-Vee 10/8-10/14

The deals for Hy-Vee this week are the same as last. I some how missed that the ad was a two week ad! You can see all the great deals here! Be sure to read the comments to have the most accurate information!

Don't forget to check Dillons deals here and Rays Apple Market here!

Dillons 10/8-10/14

There are some great prices this week! Remember that these posts are targeted to tell you what the BEST deals are. These are deals that I believe you can't find the price anywhere else for the week. I have also tried to tell you what items are worth stocking up on. Happy Shopping!

• Various types of Apples are .99/lb (Aldi 3 lb. baged apples are 1.69/1 this week!)
• Kroger 3 lb. bags of apples are 2.97 (Aldi 3lb. bags are 1.69 this week!)
• Boneless Pork Loin chops are BIGI w/prices starting at 4.69/lb.
• Kroger 8 oz bags and bars of cheese are 1.77/1. (this is a great price and beats Aldi)
• Kroger 4 lb. bags of sugar 1.48/lb. (Aldi 5 lb. bags are 1.99)
• Kroger Butter is 1.98/1. If you receive Dillons coupons you probably have a coupon for this making it a great deal! (Aldi butter is usually 2.19/1) So stock up at the Dillons price!
  
• 11-15.25 oz, Cream Soups 10.5-10.75 oz, Pot Pies 7 oz, Mandarin Oranges or Pineapple 8-11 oz, Seasoning Packets .75-1.62 oz, Campbell's Chicken Noodle or Tomato Soup 10.75 oz or Libby's Vienna Sausage 5 oz Selected Varieties= 2/$1!!! Use cambell's .40/4 coupons to get these for .30/1!
  
• Hot, Lean or Crossiant pockets are 3/$5. Use .50/1 coupon doubled for lean pockets to get these for .67/1!
• Kroger Salad Dressing is .99/1. (Aldi reciently raised their price to 1.19) Stock up at the Kroger price!
• Hunts Canned Tomatoes are .75/1. Use .40/2 to get these for .35/can. (Aldi price is .45/can). Stock up at this price if you have the coupon! There is also a shortcuts.com coupon for $1/5. Buy 6 and use 3 .40/2 coupons + the shortcuts.com coupon=.18/can!
  
• Kroger Value corn flakes are .99/box!
• Kroger 24 oz. cottage cheese, dips and sour cream are 1.99/1! (beats the Aldi price)
• Kroger Saltines are 10/10
• Kroger Cream Cheese is 10/10 (Aldi recently raised their price to 1.19/bar.) Stock up at the Kroger price!
• 32 oz. International Delight coffee Creamer is 1.99/1! GREAT price!
• Bar S hot dogs are 10/10. Go here for coupons to make this an even better deal!
  
• Loreal Paris skin care is BIGI FREE! Use 2/1 coupons from recent inserts to sweeten your deal. Prices start at 5.99
• Suave Shampoo or Conditioner is .88/1! Use $1/2 coupon to get these .38/1!
• Colgate toothpaste is 2/$3. Use 1/1 coupon from recent insert to get ths for .50/1! See how I got FREE toothpaste this week here!
• Squash is .99/lb.!
• Don't forget to visit here for how you can get Fleishman's yeast for .19-.29/3ct packet!
  

As a note, pumpkins are 1.99/1 at Aldi this week! We got a HUGE pumpkin there on Monday!

Remember to check here for Rays Apple Market deals! Also be sure to see the new P&G on-line coupons here! There are some great deals!

McDonalds: $2 Treat Books

Our Local McDonald's here in Topeka are selling "treat books" for $2. This book contains 12 coupons for children 12 and under. There are 4 of each coupon: FREE hamburger, ice cream cone, apple dippers, and milk or juice.

This book is valued at around $12 and it only costs $2!

Dillons: Fleishmans yeast

The 3 ct. packs of Fleishman's yeast are priced at 1.69/1 this week at Dillons. They are reported as giving back .50 cents off your next trip to Dillon's catalina. There are also .55/1 MF coupons or .45/1 MF coupons to be used.

When you break it down you can get one 3 ct. pack of yeast for either .19/1 or .29/1 after MF coupon and catalina. The total depends on which MF coupon you use.

Note: These .50 off your next purchase coupons may double to $1. If they do this means you could make .21-.31 in overage! Please leave a comment if you know for sure whether the catalina doubles or not. Thanks!

CVS: Always Infitiy Limit 2!

It has been reported (Thanks Blaire!) that the Always Infinity that are FREE after ECB this week at CVS are actually limit 2 and not 1 like the ad says! Be sure to see more CVS deals here!

Gas for $2.91/gal!

No kidding yesterday my husband and I filled up our car for $2.91 a gallon! I don't remember the last time I filled up for under $3 a gallon! I had noticed that over the weekend Gas prices had dropped a little so I got on gasbuddy.com to see where the cheapest gas in Topeka was. There are 2 gas stations down on 6th street that generally have the lowest prices. They are located at 6th and Lane and 6th and Clay. In the curiousty to see if the posted price was true, we took a little trip down to 6th and Lane to see if it was true... and sure enough it was!

I noticed that Gas everywhere else continues to remain around $3.15-$3.20/gallon. At the price we got you save about .25 a gallon or for an average fill up of 15 gallons. That is almost $4 saved!

If you have a Dillons card don't forget about North Topeka Dillons. They give you a .20 cent discount and as of Saturday with your .20 cents off you could get gas for 2.99/gal.!

I realize that not everybody likes to travel out of their way to fill up. I do, however, think it is wise to search out gas prices near you and go to the station with the best price. We live in an area where from one block to the next there is a difference as much as .10/gal! So I am encouraging you to start noticing gas prices and stay away from the stations that are consistently more expensive. There is no reason to pay $3.19/gal at the station at 21st and Wanamaker when you can go to 29th and Wanamaker and pay .10 cents less.

Hmmm... I just realized I kind of have a soap box about this, don't I?

Menu Plan Monday for Oct. 6

We were so blessed last week to receive some delicious BBQ from Grover's that was left over from a luncheon my dad was in charge of last week! So for about 3 days we ate Ribs, turkey, potato salad, baked beans and coleslaw! It was great to not have to cook and better yet it helped out our grocery budget! So needless to say this menu is similar to the one last week.

Sunday: All Church gathering at the Pumpkin Patch. We'll be eating hot dogs and other great fixins!
Monday: Sandwiches on the go
Tuesday: Hamburger Potato Casserole (includes price break down), broccoli, and bread
Wednesday: Breakfast: Sausage and egg scramble over potatoes with orange rolls and fruit
Thursday: Chicken Macaroni, green beans and bread
Friday: Pizza!
Saturday: I don't know yet:)

I am continuing to work on adding new recipes along with the price down for the recipe. I have started a few and you can find them here! Make sure you see what others have planned here, and I must say that I WILL be making this desert here!

Walgreens for Oct. 5

I took my $3 in RR I ended up with last week and continued to "roll" them for an overage of $8! Below are my transactions!

Transaction #1:
2 Listerine Smart Rinses=$9
2 Glade Wisp Flameless candles=11.98
Total before coupons=20.98
- $3 RR from last week
-$5 Listerine coupon (I got this a few months ago by mail by request)
-.50/1 Listerine coupon
- BIGI Glade wisp coupon (-5.99)
-$5/1 Glade wisp candle coupon
=1.49 + tax, and I got back $4.50 in RR for Listerine and a $3 RR for the glade!

Transaction #2
2 Glade Flameless candles=11.98
-BIGI Glade wisp coupon (-5.99)
- 5/1 Glade wisp coupon
=.99+ tax, and I got back $3 in RR!

Transaction #3
3 Glade candles=5.97
2 Glade scented candle refils=3.98
=9.95
- $4.50 RR from Listerine deal in Transaction #1
-3 1/1 Glade candle coupons
-1 BIGI scented candle refil coupon (-1.99)
=.46+ tax, and I can turn in $5 in rebates for #28 in the ES catalog!

So before tax my total was 2.94, I have $6 in RR left and a $5 rebate to turn in! I made an overage of $8 today!

Note: It is a common understanding with Walgreens that you cannot have more coupons than items you are buying. I have found time and time again that I do not have this problem if I present my coupons in this order: RR's first, then MF coupons, and finally Walgreens specific coupons such as ES or in-ad coupons. You must hand then to the cashier in this order! This works for me, but it may not work for all. Let us know if it works for you and where you shop!